A policeman killer who went on the run for 13 years and a thug who stabbed another to death are bidding for freedom.
James Hurley, now 60, was jailed for life for shooting off-duty constable Frank Mason in the back during a security van raid in Hemel Hempstead, Herts, in 1988.
After six years in jail, he escaped by threatening a prison officer with a knife as he was being moved between prisons. He was finally recaptured in The Hague, Netherlands, 13 years later.
Hurley’s first parole hearing took place today, it is understood.
PC Mason’s widow Jill said: “I still wonder what my life would have been like if he hadn’t been brave, if he hadn’t been walking the dog and intervened.
“He was the best and loveliest of men.”
Paul Weddle was jailed for a minimum of 25 years in 1993 after stabbing Sgt Bill Forth in the heart, lung and kidney as he attended a call.
He is set for his third parole hearing ahead of next month’s 30th anniversary of the murder in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
Weddle will be applying to be moved to an open prison in preparation for release.
Sgt Forth’s widow, Gill, said: “This year it’s 30 years. And whilst the enormity of the passage of time has hit hard, it’s also difficult to manage both the build-up to the hearing and this year’s memorial services.
“I am going to have to deal with the prospect that they [Weddle] are going to be given leave to move to open conditions.
“I don’t have to like this outcome at all, but recognise I am going to have to learn to cope with the situation much like I did when the murder of Bill became mine and my family’s living nightmare.”
